Posted on 31 March 2009

Mad scientist and secret physicist, Lucy Porter (also a comedienne), explains the theory of time travel, builds a time machine and experiences the intricacies of time paradoxes.

I have never seen her ‘live’, and I’ve been to quite a few comedy clubs, but based on her videos, she is an engaging and fun performer. (I was going to add petite, but wasn’t sure that’s quite politically correct nowerdays).

So watch the video, and let Dr. Porter show you her time travel exploits. Check out her official site for her tour dates.

Thanks to the National Carrot Association for this bit of information, and the BBC and That Mitchell And Webb for the images.

Posted on 18 April 2008

We ask the question: Does scifi work without a fast pace, no intense action and no CGI effects?

Man From Earth is said to have been completed by Jerome Bixby on his deathbed. He is probably best know for either of two things: a writer on the original Star Trek series, or the Twilight Zone episode (It’s A Good Life), which was adapted by Rod Serling.

This film is a narrative based on a Professor John Oldman (David Less Smith) who unexpectedly resigns from the local university. As is with a close knit community, his friends and colleagues go around to his house to get an explanation of his sudden decision to resign. They are perturbed as to why he didn’t let them know sooner and as to why there is no ‘leaving get-together’. So, loaded with food and beer, they turn up and start the friendly ‘interrogation’.Read the full story

Posted on 18 January 2008

“The Cuban Missile Crisis, Teddyboys, Rock N’ Roll, The Key To The End Of The World, Timetravel - There’s nothing quite like being a teenager in Liverpool during 1962…”

Laura Mann, 14, is The H-Bomb Girl and has just moved to Liverpool with her mum. Laura’s father is seperating from her mother, and he’s in the RAF, and very close to the rising angst between the US and Cuba.

This is a fictional account of history during the Cuban Missile Crisis, rise of the Beatles, threat of nuclear war and includes bit parts by the Beatles and Cilla Black. As I’ve spent quite a bit of time in and around Liverpool in the last few years, and the descriptions of 60s Liverpool, especially the Cavern and the feeling of the loud music rockets this story onto another parallel. I even looked around for footage of The Beatles playing early on in their career, and you can image The H-Bomb Girl and her friends somewhere in the crowd.

It’s worth pointing out that Baxter is well known for his harder SF, and this is quite a departure for him, don’t expect in your face SF, this is more subtle, and the way he introduces the SF elements are perfectly paced.

There is a big downside though, and that’s towards the end where the story collapses (as does the wall in The Cavern in an idiotic display of dangerousness of the British Military) and my suspension of belief was forced to vacate the area.Read the full story

Posted on 31 May 2007

Dirtside Atomic: Where The Boots And Weapons Are Bigger Than The Skirts

Dirtside Atomc is an online only, freeview scifi series filmed entirely ‘on location’ in a garage and on a beach. Deb Spoopoo says, ‘Most of the props and sets are constructed out of rubbish or stuff from the poundshop.’

The story is based on a intel’ mission which goes kind of skew. It involves surreal planets, time travel, spaceships, weapons and computers..

Deb Spoopoo plays the intel officer, in her very draughty clothes, she gets dragged into enabling a nuclear bomb, fighting weird female human entities and … time travel (I’m hooked already). She hopes her neighbours understand about the strange noises eminating from her garage at 3 in the morning.

Pete plays the non-stop-get-from-a-to-z with weapons persona who gets to use Big Guns (capitalised). He also added to the scripts and made up characters and even got to use the chaingun for therapy!

Simon plays the communcator. And looks very swish in his Farscape-ish clothes. The way he talks works well within the film. He says, ‘It was an amazing experience.” It would be in those outlandish clothes, and he plays the character well, in a somber kind of way.

All of the main three characters look like they’ve taken their costumes from a mix of 21st century goth/punk - it reminds me of when I used to go to Goth/Rock/Indie clubs in the ’90s, and people wore black leather and bits of chains and big biker boots. Thing is, it all fits into the film perfectly.

There is more info in the tech section, but in a nutshell its all done as creatively as possible, as cheaply as possible.

The plot doesn’t really invent any new sci-fi wheels, but quite amazingly, makes up for that in other areas, for example, some of the scripting is laugh out loud hilarious, which is unusual in scifi, and even though CGI is used in quite a lot of scenes, it isn’t ‘in your face’.

If you don’t even make a snorting noise during the ’setting the nuclear bomb’ scene, you’re just plain dead. I particularly liked the sound effects. A lot of the music tracks are looped, but this adds a kind of edginess to it, and the whirls and bleeps are just beautiful, especially when they whir and bleep to visual triggers. And the chaingun, pure bliss.

The technical aspects of the filming are pretty impressive too. Most of the shots with Deb in, seem to be done with a static camera, with Deb filming herself. And imagine how crazy it is to see her fighting herself. A lot of blue/green screening was used; from the photos on the site, it looks like a nice green sheet sellotaped together, but it works so well.

Think: Non corporate Farscape, with creative people behind it who love what they do, and aren’t in it just for the money.

Currently seven episodes, each lasting around six minutes.

The amazing 3D environments and renders are done by AlisonGoth.

She finishes by saying, “It’s the best fun ever, even better than Doom 3 and pancakes”.

You don’t want to miss Dirtside Atomic; a bunch of friends messing around, creating something new and which is worth watching. You won’t be disappointed!